Washington D.C. on a beautiful day

Today we went to the capital building and we had a super nice tour guide who showed us the Capitol Building, the Library of the Congress, which was super pretty and just simply amazing. Then we walked over to the White House and took pictures while we all were hoping to see Barack Obama. The weather was warm and sunny so we went to the National Mall with all the museums and we were able to explore all the museums we wanted to. The Art museum was amazing and it took a lot time to go through even one of the museums because they are super huge. The boys got excited about the Air and space parts of the museum, which was apparently also really amazing and a must see. After our amazing museum time we went for a little shopping and dinner in Georgetown and enjoyed our last night together.
All day everybody had an amazingly positive attitude which made me automatically feel happy and also in a good mood too. I enjoyed the good weather we had and the people around me, but at the same time I had also on my mind that this perfect time is going to an end. The time was simply so perfect that it is going to be hard to say goodbye, but well, how BELO said; It is never a goodbye, it is always a see you later.
         Anna Sofia, Germany

What a view!

Our local tourist guide was amazing. Telling both interesting and entertaining facts about really helped us understand both past and present New York. The city streets were full of people. Eating in Chinatown felt like eating in the real China. And finally seeing the legendary Manhattan skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge has one of the most memorable moments of my lifetime.

The Empire State Building’s observation deck made me gasp. Seeing over 30 miles of land! Also Grand Central Terminal was very memorable, because the place has been seen in several movies. Wall St and its history are truly a must-see in the city.  Shopping at the magnificent stores of Soho will make you lose a lot of money in clothes and souvenirs. Also Chinatown and its originality will shock you.

Name: Aki Huunonen

Country: Finland

Washington DC

May 1^st

First we went to Memorial Park which had a lot of statues and monuments. We saw Lincoln Memorial, which was  one of the famous statues that I knew before, we also saw the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial; I really enjoyed seeing all of them and the statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. too. Also we went to  Roosevelt Memorial and  The Thomas Jefferson Memorial. It was so cool!! Our tour guide was so awesome!! I appreciated her being our guide. After that we went to big mall (near the Pentagon) to have lunch and to do some shopping. And then we went to George Washington Mount Vernon! It wasa  huge house and it had so many interesting details and things about George Washington, his family and his life. It was great and beautiful.

I think that today was more valuable than normal American history class.  It was a  wonderful day! I felt that everyday on this trip went so fast. I hope that tomorrow is going to be a fantastic day again!

Fuka Iwase and Yukari Nakamura (Japan)

Philadelphia Experience

April 30th

First we left New York and drove to Philadelphia. Nine of the exchange students were there for only New York trip so we had to say good bye to them. It was pretty sad… Oh no, we’ve never said good bye but we say “ see you later.” Don’t forget that. Then we went to ReadingTerminal to have lunch. The place was pretty cool because they had so many kinds of awesome foods from many countries!! After that we went to the Constitution Center. We saw a presentation first which was pretty good, and then we went to look around. There was a room which had so many statues of important historical people. One of the coolest things in the center was that we could experience voting of the presidential election.  Then we had a walking tour in Philadelphia. It was raining so hard. Everyone’s shoes were dead and wet and it was freezing cold. I couldn’t even pay much  attention to what the guide was saying sometimes, but I still learned a lot. It was kind of sad because it was the only day that we could see the Philadelphia area... and all that rain! But I really want to go back again when it is sunny cause Philadelphia is amazing! After the tour everyone was not in a good mood because of the raining tour... we are normal teenagers after all! lol But the dinner changed us! The cheese steak was  awesome and the dessert was amazing! The dinner made us happy and made me feeling like this whole day was great!! After dinner we drove to Washington DC! I'm excited for the day tomorrow!

Yukari Nakamura (Japan)

Philadelphia II

April 30
 We departed to Philadelphia with mixed feelings. Nine of our students had left, but everyone was looking forward to another amazing part of the trip. We started off with the famous Reading Terminal Market, which is a huge food market that has everything from Chinese to German “wurst”. A lot of people enjoyed the famous Philly Cheese Steak, which, in my opinion, is just amazing.
Done with eating, we were heading to the Constitution Center. Once we got in, an actor gave us an inspiring speech about the beginning of the U.S. in a presentation called "freedom Rising". Furthermore, everyone could walk around the museum afterwards to learn about the voting system, to pretend being the president, etc.
Unfortunately, the rain started pouring over the streets of Philadelphia soon before we were supposed to do the walking tour, but luckily we where provided ponchos to keep us safe.n Thank you Belo!!!
We started with the Liberty Bell, which was impressive, and saw other important landmarks in Philadelphia, like Federal Hall, Benjamin's Franklyn's house and the church where he went to! We saw the Rocky Stairs, and everyone was looking forward to dinner. We ended our

day with delicious dinner and we are now heading to Washington D.C.


To sum it up, the Philadelphia day was good. We dealt with the weather, but we could enjoy history and amazing food. The Liberty Bell and the cheese steak are my two highlights of the day. It was an adventure I will never forget. 

Name:  Lennart Heydweiller (Germany)

 

Wall St. Rocks!

Today we went to many different places all over New York that are known worldwide.

First, we went to one of the most iconic and best known buildings in the whole city, the Empire State Building. We were there right on time, so we didn't have to wait too long to go in. First we came in a big hall with a very high and impressive ceiling. Then we got our audio guides and started moving ahead. In the first floor there was a show about the new energy saving parts of the building. Even though it was interesting, the most people moved ahead very quickly and directly in the elevators, up to the 80^th floor, where they had a show about how the building was build. Then again, most people moved ahead through that very quickly to the next elevators that brought everyone to the 86 where the observatory was.

Everyone who arrived there was amazed by the mind blowing view over the city. Some probably took more selfys on top of the building than on the whole rest of the tour. Afterwards everyone went to the shop and then back to the ground again.

After this amazing experience we went to another well known building, not as high but even more beautiful: The Grand Central Station. This place is known for being a beautiful building and we ate lunch in there. It was really impressive to see the high walls in the hall. The most impressive thing was probably the talking in the corners, were someone talks in one corner and another one in another corner of the room and they can hear each other. This was really fun.

Our next stop was Wall Street, the Bull, federal Hall, City Hall... from where we went to the Brooklyn Bridge. We all were really impressed because of the view from the bridge on the Skyscrapers and the river.

Then we went to China Town where our Guide, Garret left us which made everyone very sad because he was very funny.

Henrik Hetebrueg

Jule Herbst

Steffen Schulze

I (really) HEART New York!

What a day!! The Empire State Building was our first stop.

Up on the top we had an awesome view over the entire city. All the places that we had already seen yesterday could now be viewed from the air.

Grand Central Station was the stop for lunch. We had free time to eat lunch and check out Central Station. It definitely was the biggest and most impressive train station I have ever seen. It was impressive how the building combined old and new things.

Wall Street was one of the stops during the Walking Tour with Garrett. We walked through the whole downtown area and visited a bunch of places. It was insane to see and be right next to places that I had already known from TV before.

The Brooklyn Bridge was the last part of the Walking Tour. We started on the Manhattan side and walked all the way across to Brooklyn. The bridge was extremely busy with all the tourists walking across it.

The bus took us from the Brooklyn Bridge back to Downtown and we had some free time to go shopping. In SoHo there are some really cool shops, some of which are only available in New York.

Chinatown was the place where we had dinner. There were so many Chinese people that I felt like I was in China. The food was actually pretty good and the Chinese Girl on our table told us a lot about the Chinese food culture. It was indeed a great day I will never forget!

 Henrik Hetebrueg

Big apple

 First off we went to ferry station in New Jersey to take a boat to see Statue of Liberty. The view to Manhattan was amazing. At the Liberty Island we took a lot pictures of the statue. After the stop at the island we vent to the Time Square for shopping. I bought so much cool stuff from famous stores that my suitcase is full already. After 3 hours of shopping, we vent to Maddam Tousseauds Vax Museum. The statues we so alive-looking that my cameras settings mistook them for real people. Then we vent to a Italian buffet, That has the best pizza in town. And finally we vent to see Phantom of the Opera. The play was one of the best ones I’ve seen.

It was , once again, great to see the Manhattan skyline from a distance. Also Statue of Liberty was amazing to see close. Time Square is a must-see place in NYC. Also Maddam Tousseauds. It feels sad to leave the Big Apple tomorrow .The whole tour was amazing.

Our local tourist guide was amazing. Telling both interesting and entertaining facts about really helped us understand both past and present New York. The city streets were full of people. Eating in Chinatown felt like eating in the real China. And finally seeing the legendary Manhattan skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge has one of the most memorable moments of my lifetime.

The Empire State Building’s observation deck made me gasp. Seeing over 30 miles of land! Also Grand Central Terminal was very memorable, because the place has been seen in several movies. Wall St and its history are truly a must-see in the city.  Shopping at the magnificent stores of Soho will make you lose a lot of money in clothes and souvenirs. Also Chinatown and its originality will shock you.

Name: Aki Huunonen

Country: Finland

IMAGINE, ROCKING OUT IN NYC

Today was full of breathtaking scenes and good times. I gasped when finally arrived to Manhattan, seeing that famous skyline in real life. Seeing many famous places from movies live, like Central park and Rockefeller Center,  made me feel  great being part of something so important and familiar. Our tourist guide was amazing. He was giving us a great stand-up show with cool facts about the Big Apple. Also the ending of the day was perfect: Eating next to great musicians suits and quitars in Hard Rock Café and seeing all the lights at Times Square made me speechless. I can’t wait for tomorrows adventure.

-        -  Aki Huuhonen -Finland

We went the first time to New York today. It is amazing to see such a magical City, I never saw such a thing before in my life. We don’t have any cities in Germany, that are nearly as big. It was amazing to see the Times Square, the library etc., things you just saw in movies all your life and now I was finally able to see them on my own. For me the first day was a big success and I look forward to tomorrow.                           – Malte Karpowitz -Germany

New York made me fall in love with it in 1 day. In New York you can find everything and anything. When I think about today the things that come to my mind are our dinner in Hard Rock Café, laughing with my friends, dancing my ass off, getting lost in MET, walking around in Central park. We were eating dinner when suddenly the group sitting next to us started sinning and dancing to the music we were all amaced, taking videos and trying to join with clapping and sinning. From that I realized that New York excepts everyone as who they are everyone will fit in. As this group of 36 we all have friends and I have already became really close with some of them and I can feel  that we will be friends for life and we will always have these moments to share and charis together. New York is more than u expected, hip hop class, sightseeing, friends, culture and something new behind every corner.  New York I will never forget you.

-        -  Asta Lappetelainen- Finland

-          PHOTOS: Michelle Juergensen-Germany

The American dream!

The American dream!!

Finally we arrived to NEW YORK, once  at the airport a shuttle took us to the hotel. With every meter, that we came closer to the hotel, our excitement grew.

We had dinner – a big buffet and cake for desert.

When everyone finished, our Belo staff gave a presentation, about what to expect from the next 7 days.

And now we can not wait for all the adventures, that are coming towards us...

Excited for the day tomorrow!

It's a dream to actually be here now.

Milly and Fuka

Welcome to the New York, Philly, and DC Trip Blog!

This will be our day-to-day journal... each day, you'll get news, information and pictures from the students. Join us on our adventure!

Get ready for a week in the exciting cities of New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC!!  The trip will be starting out in the great city of New York! There is no place like it in the world! A nice walk in Central Park, shopping in the cool and modern neighborhood of Soho, exploring the ritzy Upper East Side…the possibilities are infinite!

Continuing on to Philadelphia- we will see American history come to life! We will explore the National Constitution Center, see where the Declaration of Independence was signed –even try one of Philly's famous delicacies, the “Philly Cheesesteak”.
 

Next, we will head to Washington DC – the nation's capitol. Here, we will explore the many monuments and memorials in this important city! Enjoy an afternoon on the Smithsonian Museum campus, visit the quaint neighborhood of Georgetown, explore the life of George Washington on his Mt. Vernon estate…and more!

Join us on this journey through three of America's most vibrant, exciting, and historical cities!